


Iron Investigation

by Arkham_Cat



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Adopted Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Imortal Tony Stark, M/M, Mild Angst, OOC, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark is Sherlock Holmes, non Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26353375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arkham_Cat/pseuds/Arkham_Cat
Summary: Four months into living with his new parents and Peter still feels like a stranger in his own home.Perhaps some snooping around old boxes in the storage room will yield answers....Or create new questions.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Kudos: 51





	Iron Investigation

**Author's Note:**

> A requested piece by one of my best friends.  
> I hope you enjoy~ 
> 
> Follow me on all the things!
> 
> https://linktr.ee/kayceelain

Having just recently moved in with Mr, Stark and Mr, Stange, Peter didn’t want to get on either man's bad side. They both had been so kind to him.  
They had adopted him into their home. Pulling the teen away from years of living through the system. He finally was given a home.

Stark tower was where Peter primarily lived with his two adoptive fathers. Life in the tower was fairly tame despite what you’d expect for a billionaire household. A usual day would consist of waking up, going to school, coming home. 

Peter would sometimes help Tony out in the lab with odds and ends. Then they’d make dinner with Stephen and go on from there.

On occasion he would join his sorcerer farther in his Sanctum. They would study together in the library, enjoying one another's presence and calm soundings. Peter was interested in the magic that his father practiced, but he doubted he’d be any good at it, so he never asked to learn. Only to watch. 

Everything about the new living situation was perfect, and Peter couldn’t ask for better. Yet here he was shifting through his Father's lab to learn more about the man.

Both men while extremely nice and caring were decently secretive. It was mostly Tony out of the two, but the teen couldn’t help but feel like the Ex Doctor was also keeping things. 

Besides what Peter knew of Tony Stark and Stephen Strange and how they acted around him, the teen felt like he hardly knew his new parents. 

While Stephen would give Peter bit by bit, more information, slowly and gradually of his past. Tony didn’t give him much to work with..  
Tony felt like a character while Stephen was slowly becoming more of a person in the teens eyes. 

It was pushing four months with them, and he still felt like a stranger around both his parents, Tony mostly.

Despite telling himself that perhaps the closed off nature was just how the man was, the brunette couldn't help but feel outcast and hurt by the lack of effort Tony seemed to be putting in.

That’s why, while they were both off at Shield expecting Peter to have gone to school, the teen was instead looking for answers and clues to who his parents were. Starting with Tony.  
——  
Most of what Tony had in his office and lab was schematics, random mechanical parts and half finished projects.  
The finished projects went elsewhere in the tower. 

There were awards, news clippings, pictures, random books and biographies.  
Everything about Tony Stark's persona but not too much about the man behind the Stark title. 

There was a picture of His two dads on their wedding day and a picture of Peter placed on the scientist’s desk but that was it, nothing else to show the man behind the suit.

Nothing to show, the man who cooked waffles in the morning for Peter and Stephen when the Sorcerer's hands shook too badly to cook for them.

Nothing to show for, the man who pulled him from an unhappy living situation the moment he’d found out just how bad it was.  
The same man who on the first night in Peter's new home, had hugged him as he cried about how grateful he was to both his new parents.  
——  
Peter sighed, closing the drawers of his dad's desk.  
There wasn’t anything here, there wasn’t much in his parents room, and nothing in the other rooms of the house.

The last place to check was the storage room in the basement of the tower.  
It was a cluttered mess down there and while the teen doubted he’d find anything down there, it was worth a try.  
———-¥———-  
“I told you not to say it, but you did anyway.” Stephen sighed, throwing his coat to the couch before turning to glare at his husband.

“Look, Fury will get over it, he was being an ass and someone had to point it out!” Tony defended with a shrug.

“That doesn't mean you have to be the one to tell him so, Anthony. Now Shield is going to be watching you like a hawk again.”

“So what, I can sweet talk my way out of anything, you know that.”  
Tony moved to lightly grab the taller man's arms.  
“No one can stay mad at me long.” The brunette winked up at his husband with a smirk plastered over his face.

Stephen shook his head, Grey eyes softening at his partner's antics.  
“Whatever you say, Love.” 

“Hah! See!” Tony pointed at the Sorcerers smile. The smirk growing into a full on grin at this point. 

Rolling his eyes, the Ex Doctor shifted out of the scientist hold, making his way to the kitchen.  
———  
The man didn’t get very far though, his eyes focusing on something that Should not be where it currently was. 

Laying by the counter was Peter's school backpack.  
Exactly where it had been this morning when the two adults had left for their meeting. Peter was supposed to go to school ten minutes after they had left.

“Anthony! Come here, please.”  
Frowning, the Sourcer walked to his son’s backpack. Nothing was out of the ordinary about it, nor did anything look out of place from what the man could see. 

“What’s up?” Questioned the brunette from behind his husband.

Stephen simply pointed at the counter to answer his question.  
The frown remaining in place across his face.

“That’s… Peter’s backpack.”  
“Yes, but where is Peter?” 

Tony stared at his partner for a moment before going to the computer panel in the kitchen.  
“Jarvis, where the hell is my son?” 

“Master Peter is in the Storage room, Sir.” Answered the robotic assistant.

“What is he doing down there?” Tony asked, not really looking for an answer as he began to walk to the elevator to go confront his son.  
————¥————  
Boxes, boxes, and more boxes littered the entirety of the basement storage room. Over the years Tony and Stephen had accumulated a lot of keepsakes and excess possessions.

There were so many boxes and totes simply full of various clutter and treasures.

Finding anything of value or importance would be like finding a needle in a haystack at this point, but Peter was determined to find some kind of information before he went back upstairs.

After a few hours of searching the teen found an area in the storage room that had been blocked off.  
Since nothing outside this area had given way to answers, Peter pressed on and pushed the old furniture blocking the door, to the side.

The room was small, with no light.  
The young brunette had to use the light from his phone to see his way through.

Inside were more boxes, in the back of the room Peter could see a desk and chair. Dust was piled on every surface in the room, the teen had to try and not breathe in too much otherwise dust would enter his lungs.

This room obviously hadn’t been looked after for years. A stark difference to the large room outside.

“Well, I’m here. May as well see what we’ve got.”  
Peter propped his phone up so the light spread over the small room, illuminating everything slightly.

The dust was piled so thick, the teen had to wipe it off before opening any of the boxes.  
The first one held a collection of Sherlock Holmes novels.  
Shrugging, Peter sat that box to the side.  
The second box held news papers, and signs, and Caricatures all depicting Sherlock and his various cases. 

So Tony was a hardcore Holmes fan, go figure.  
Shrugging once more, Peter sat the box to the side.

The next box he opened held old Victorian style clothing. Hats, vests, coats, shirts, an entire wardrobe was packed into the box.  
The fabric felt old and worn in the teens hands.

Like old clothing displays in museums or showcases. 

“Why do you have all this stuff, Mr Stark?”  
The teen mumbled to himself as he moved to look around more.

“Because I couldn’t let go of the past.” Spoke a voice from behind the teen, startling him from his spot.  
Wide Hazel eyes met Brown as Peter turned to meet the eyes of his adoptive father.

“Wh?.. uh Mr, Stark I’m sorry.. I…” Anything he’d been planning on saying was lost on the teens tongue.  
He hadn’t thought about what would happen if he was caught skipping school and snooping.

“It’s alright kid. It’s alright.” Tony eased, moving into the small room to sit down beside his son.

“Stephen warned me you would start getting curious if I didn’t start opening up. So it’s kinda my fault.”

The young brunette frowned looking up at his father. Confusion settled heavy over him. ‘Opening up?’

“What do you mean, Mr Stark?” Quietly he asked, his hand still sat on an unopened box.  
Tony chuckled, smiling at his son. “First off kid, stop calling me ‘Mr.Stark’ would ya? Second, I mean I’ve been keeping things from you and it’s obviously gotten to you.” 

Peter nodded in agreement, shifting uncomfortably under his father's gaze.  
“It… it has bothered me. I guess I just felt like you didn’t want me to know you besides what everyone else knows.”

Sighing the adult shook his head before wrapping his arms around the teen in a tight hug.  
“That’s my fault. I’m sorry, that was not my intention at all. There are just some things about my past that are hard to explain.” 

When the two parted the young brunette gave Tony a small smile. “I’m willing to listen and try to understand if you’re willing to explain.” 

“Alright, we’ll give it a shot. Starting with the stuff in these boxes.” Tony pointed to the open boxes Peter had been shifting through.

The teen laughed looking over at the contents that could be seen from his spot on the floor.  
“What? That you're a closet Sherlock Holmes fan? I mean, I like the books and all but definitely not this much.”

Tony stayed quiet for a few passing moments causing the teen some unease. The scientist stood and walked around the boxes to the desk in the back of the room.

Peter hadn’t made it anywhere near that area to explore yet. 

The older brunette then walked back to the teen, this time with a photograph in hand that he gave to his son. It was a very old and faded photo. The picture itself kind of hard to see from age. Spots gathered in areas, and there was a lack of color over the entire photo.

What Peter could see, The picture captured two males dressed in Victorian clothing, One man was taller than the other.  
Both had dark hair, and facial hair.

The one wore an expression that reminded the teen of his Adoptive father.

When he looked closer the smirking man looked even more like his adoptive father, just with longer hair and less facial hair. He looked exactly like he did now. 

Peter looked back and forth from the picture to his dad who was keeping eerily silent as the teens confusion grew.  
This old picture didn’t seem like a replica, it felt and looked like a truly old picture.  
The clothes didn’t feel like replicas either. 

“I don’t… understand?” Confusion laced Peter's voice.  
The conclusion he had made didn’t make sense.

His father couldn’t be the same man in this picture.  
But they looked so similar.

“All the stories of Sherlock Holmes are stories about me. I was him, at one point a longtime ago.” 

Peter laughed, his confusion spilling out over into his laughter.  
“That.. that doesn't make any sense.”

Tony tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow at the young teen.  
“Doesn't it? Think about it. Those pictures look exactly like me. I have clothes from the Victorian era, there’s news clippings from an era I’m not supposed to have lived in. I’ve been secretive with you since you moved in.” 

“So… you’re a vampire or something?” Peter questioned, confusion still thick in the air.

Snorting the older brunette shook his head. “Vampires aren’t real, kid.” 

“Then… how have you-?”  
Peters' question trailed off, unsure of how to word it.

“How have I been around so long? It’s a mutation, causes me to live longer than others. Didn’t figure it out until people around me began to age and die while I stayed the same for years. I’ve had to change my name and where I live to stay off the radar,”

“I… that sounds, that sounds really sad.” Peter frowned thinking of everyone his father had to have lost to get to the point he was at now. 

“It’s not, I've met so many amazing people in my long life, and I’ve had many experiences and adventures that I wouldn’t give up for the world.”

Peter smiled softly, thinking about his father's look on his life.  
“That's a nice way to think about it.”

Tony nodded, standing up to stretch out his back.  
“Ah, let's get back out there. Your Pa was really worried when he saw you didn’t go to school.” 

A light blush covered the teens cheeks in embarrassment.  
“I should apologize to him.” 

“You Should, but I’ll explain what happened.” 

The two exited the small room, Tony’s hand on the teens shoulder to direct him through the storage room and back to where Stephen was waiting with a lunch almost ready to be eaten by the small family.  
——-  
Later in that night Tony and Peter sat in the living room with one of the boxes from the abandoned room in the storage room. 

They had been going through old case files and stories from Tony’s time as Sherlock. 

“Do you… do you think there’s anyway to give someone a longer life?” Peter asked quietly after looking over more files with his father.

The question itself had caught the scientist off guard in the moment but he hadn’t been unprepared for it.  
Stephen had inquired something similar when he had told the sorcerer  
of his long life. 

Wrapping an arm around the teen, Tony pulled him into his side for a tight hug.  
“I don’t have the answer for that but I do know that’s something your Pa has been exploring the possibilities of.” 

That was closure enough for the young brunette as he settled into his father's side, ready to listen to more mystery stories his father had lived through

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
